Body
The Real Deal About Body BB CreamsBB. CC. DD. WTF are these body alphabet creams, and why are they flying off shelves? |
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Good for: perking up sallow skin tone and reversing damage
Our take: It's July in Los Angeles, which means I have about a month before I start coming into work schvitzing like a World Cup athlete. In the meantime, it's still pretty damn hot here in L.A., and the idea of applying a thick, shimmery moisturizer when it's 85 degrees outside is not appealing. As it turns out, Urban Decay's body BB is perfect for summer: It moisturizes admirably but dries quickly, the minty scent is refreshing and it even has a mild cooling effect. Housed in a glamorous tube, it comes out as a bronze-y shade that initially seemed too dark for my lily-white skin. But it's much sheerer than it looks; flecks of mica give it a golden glow that's subtle enough for any skin tone, and bruises or blemishes seem to fade. Of all the BBs and CCs I tested, this had the best staying power. It stuck around through multiple hand-washings and didn't rub off onto my white shirt.
Since this BB is more of a light-reflecting, blurring lotion than a lightly tinted body lotion, it would be more accurate to call it a CC cream. I'll just have to go on faith that it's improving my skin, but of all the creams I tried, its skin-care benefits seem the most advanced -- among other features, it's got antioxidant vitamin E and green tea, watermelon extract to prevent damage, and the futuristic-sounding Matrixyl 3000 to prevent wrinkles. It was perfect to layer on over my daily body lotion with sunscreen — although a little built-in SPF sure would have been nice.
At about $32 for five ounces, this costs a lot of dough for a product that would go pretty quickly if used every day. Nevertheless, I'll be using this 'til the last beautiful, bronze-y drop.
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